Lucy - Soul Reaper Extraordinaire
by MrKipling22
Summary: Lucy dies and ends up in Soul Society, join her in the adventure of an after life time.
1. Death

**Prologue: Death**

The battle was finally over. Zeref's corpse lay cooling in a pool of his own blood while Natsu stood over him, triumphant. Exhausted and bloody, he turned, still grinning, to face his equally exhausted team. Erza and Gray gave small, tired smiles from where they were slumped on the ground, too depleted to even move. Wendy gave a half-hearted grimace, on the verge of passing out. Natsu turned his gaze on Lucy, only to draw back in horror. Lucy lay face down, surrounded by a slowly growing pool of her own blood. Her magic too was all but gone, and she lay unnaturally still.

"Lucy!" The alarm in Natsu's voice gave Erza and Gray the energy to move toward her, freezing a moment in shock at the Celestial Mage's injuries. Wendy was at once alert and by Lucy's side, doing what she could to repair the broken girl. Lucy raised tired eyes, glazed with pain, to the Sky Dragon Slayer.

"Don't." she croaked out, a feeble hand reaching out to stop her. "It's too late." "How can you say that?!" Gray exclaimed, not wanting to believe that the vibrant mage would soon be gone. Erza said nothing, tears glistening in her eyes as she saw that nothing could be done, Lucy had only minutes.

"I don't regret, anything." Lucy choked out, tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. "Fairy Tail was the best thing to ever happen to me." She gave a brilliant smile, half blind from her tears.

"We will never forget you, Lucy." Erza choked out through the lump in her throat. Natsu and Gray stayed silent, too in shock at this turn of events. "Please don't go Lucy!" Wendy begged, heartbroken sobs wracking her frame. Lucy gave a weak smile and gently patted her trembling hand.

"Lucy." Loki appeared, grave expression on his face. "Loki." The lion spirit reverently took her hand and held on tight. "Lucy." He repeated. "Listen to me. Death is not the end. We will see each other again. Please, don't forget us." "I won't." Lucy promised, but Loki only gave a sad smile, knowing it was a promise that couldn't be kept.

"Lucy." Natsu finally spoke up, determination blazing in his eyes. "We will meet again." "Sure." The dying girl agreed, unable to deny such unwavering conviction. "See you later." With those final words, her eyes closed, and the girl known as Lucy Heartfilia was no more.

Loki bowed his head over the hand still in his grasp, tears threatening in the corners of his eyes. The rest of Lucy's celestial spirits appeared, desolate at the loss of their kind wielder. Their expressions turned from sorrow to shock as their bodies began to dissolve.

"What's happening?" Aquarius demanded, turning to Loki as he was the only one unafraid. "I'm afraid I cannot say." The Zodiac leader replied. "Lucy has been chosen. We are now bound to her in both life, and death." With that cryptic comment Leo faded completely, his key also fading out of existence along with all the others.


	2. The Soul Society

**Chapter 1 – The Soul Society**

"Where am I?" came the confused voice of a young blonde girl no older than 18 was heard as she looked warily around the darkening forest. Slowly, she rose from the cold, hard ground she was lying on. She noticed she was wearing a navy blue yukata tied with a grey sash that she did not remember putting on. The girl glanced around the forest again looking for an exit. The forest was dark from all the trees grown closely together making it difficult to see the way out. She quickly walked in the direction where it looked like the trees were thinning glancing cautiously around in case of possible threats.

Several hours later the young blonde was hopelessly lost, but had managed to find a clearing where she could rest and collect her thoughts. Looking up, the girl noticed that the sky was shining with stars. This comforted her for reasons she didn't understand.

Whilst lying in the clearing staring at the stars, thousands of questions passed through her mind: "Who am I?", "Where am I?", "How did I get here?" Concentrating a name suddenly filtered through her consciousness. "Lucy?" she said aloud. "My name is Lucy . . . Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy smiled for the first time since she woke up in the strange forest. Leaning back she stared up at the stars, recognising the different constellations. Her mind automatically separated the different stars into patterns. Lucy smiled brightly as she realised that Leo's constellation was especially prominent.

When Lucy opened her eyes it was light out. Realising that she must have fallen asleep while looking at all the different constellations, she got up with a start, looking around frantically she realised that the forest wasn't as dark and foreboding in the light of day, Lucy could hear people talking a long way off. Excited, Lucy followed the sound of people and soon discovered a large village with crowded streets.

Lucy wandered around, looking at everything in slight astonishment when she suddenly walked into someone. Getting up, she quickly bowed and apologised to the man she bumped into who just laughed and waved it off. "New around here?" he asked curiously, "Yes" Lucy replied "I'm not even sure where 'here' is." she laughed. "You're in the middle of district 46 in the Soul Society" The man replied cheerfully. "Where?" Lucy replied dumbfounded. The man looked at her in astonishment, "Didn't a Soul Reaper send you here?" "No" Lucy replied.

"What's the last thing you remember?" the man asked with a serious expression on his face. "I remember waking up in the forest, over there." Lucy said as she pointed in the direction she came from. The man frowned thoughtfully then looked back at Lucy. "Follow me" he said seriously "I'll try to explain what happened to you".

Lucy followed hesitantly, not sure she should trust this man but still wanting to know what had happened to her. "My name's Ryota by the way, Ryota Miyamoto." The man introduced himself whilst turning to face her. "Lucy Heartfilia" she replied. "Thank you for helping me out Ryota." "Not a problem Lucy" Ryota replied tensely. Ryota lead her back to the entrance of the forest she came from and stopped. Lucy looked up at him curiously. "The reason why I moved us away from the crowd is because what I'm about to tell you might cause you a bit of a shock." Ryota said seriously. "Ok" Lucy replied, now nervous. "You are in the Soul Society." Ryota started, Lucy nodded for him to continue when he didn't continue. "The only way to reach the Soul Society is to . . . die in the real world." Lucy stiffened, eyes wide. "I died" she repeated numbly after a few moments. After a few minutes Lucy pulled herself together and thanked Ryota for telling her and not trying to sugar-coat it. "If it's any consolation," Ryota said suddenly, "if a Soul Reaper didn't send you here that means you didn't have any regrets." "Thank you" Lucy whispered.

"What should I do now?" Lucy wondered. "Well the first thing a new soul needs when they enter SouI Society is a place to stay." Ryota explained "I could help you acquire a vacant house in the district, that way you would have somewhere to live." Suggested Ryota, "Thank you very much for your kindness" replied Lucy.

Ryota then lead Lucy to a small building on the outskirts of the village and enters with Lucy following a step behind. "Can I help you?" asks a smiling lady sitting at a desk in what appeared to be a small reception room. "Yes" replied Ryota, "Lucy here has just arrived in Soul Society and is in need of a place to stay" Ryota explained to the lady. "Very well, would you like to share with other people or would you like your own place?" she questioned Lucy. "I would like my own place, please" replied Lucy not wanting to live with a group of strangers. "I will go and see what we have available" smiled the lady who then got up and went through the door leading to the back room, this room contained the records of all the houses as well as the people who lived in those houses within district 46.

A few minutes later she returned with a folder that contained records of the vacant houses and apartments within the district as well as details about them. "We currently only have two vacant houses and one apartment at the moment" the lady explained.

She gave Lucy the documents for the apartment to look at first. The apartment was located on the third floor of an apartment complex in the centre of the district. It was a medium size apartment that contained one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. The apartment would cost her 100,000 kan.

Once Lucy had looked over the documents for the apartment, the lady then gave her the documents for the first house. This house was located on the other end of town. It was quite big, and contained four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large kitchen and dining area, as well as a large living room; there was even a medium sized garden. All in all Lucy thought that it was too big for her by herself and she did not want to spend 500,000 kan on it.

The third house was on the edge of the village, next to the forest that she wondered out of. It was more of a bungalow then a house and although it was small, and only contained one bedroom, one bathroom, a small kitchen diner and a living room, Lucy loved it instantly and thought it was perfect even if it was a bit run down. This house would cost Lucy 100,000 kan.

Lucy then turned back to the lady and said that she didn't have any money. "That's alright; you can pay us 10% of what you earn every month when you get a job." The lady reassured Lucy. "You can work at my bar, if you want" Ryota interrupted. "Really" Lucy asked in astonishment. "Of course" Ryota replied cheerfully, "I could use someone else to help with waiting tables and serving." She then turned back to the lady at the desk, "I'll take the small house next to the woods then please." Lucy said happily. "Very well then, if you could just sign this form stating that you're the houses new tenant and that you will be paying us 10% of what you earn every month." Lucy signed the form eagerly after looking through it.

Whilst Lucy was doing that the lady ventured back into the back room to put away the details of the other house and the apartment as well as to get the key for Lucy's new house. When she came back Lucy had signed the form. "Here is the key to your new house as well as the address and we will send a confirmation to you stating that the house is yours and you're paying in snippets, also the house is fully furnished so you don't have to worry about buying furniture." The lady said. "Thank you" replied Lucy.

Lucy and Ryota left to go find Lucy's new house. It turned out to be rather easy to find since Ryota knew the area it was located. It was a bit run down and could benefit from a lick of paint, but otherwise it was a very homely looking place. "I'm going to head back to my bar and prepare for the night shift." Ryota said suddenly. "Here's the address" he said whilst giving Lucy a piece of paper with the address of his bar on. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon so that you can familiarise yourself with all the foods and drinks we serve as well as the layout of the bar." "Thank you again, for everything" Lucy replied whilst bowing. Ryota just laughed and said goodbye to Lucy so that she could look around her new house undisturbed.

Lucy smiled and unlocked the front door, which creaked quietly when opened. She entered the hallway and moved towards the door on the right and opened it. Through the door was a small bedroom that contained a single bed in the far left corner as well as a wardrobe in the near right corner and a wooden desk and chair between the near bed and the near left corner.

Exciting back into the hall Lucy then opened the door across from her and entered the kitchen diner. The room was a rectangular shape, with the kitchen unit starting around halfway down the room, curving around the corner and stopping at the door Lucy had entered. On the other side of the room was a rectangular wooden oakwood table surrounded by four matching chairs.

Lucy then made her way to the other side of the room where the dining table was and opened the door on the left side of the room.

She entered the living room which contained a small oakwood table in the centre of the room as well as a dark blue sofa on the left of the table and the same colour chair in front of the table, as well as a bookcase on the far side of the room.

Exiting the living room through the doorway on the left of where she entered, Lucy found herself at the other end of the hallway. She then opened the door on her right and entered the bathroom. There was a toilet on her immediate left with a shower a bit further along finishing at the end of the room, and a sink on the right side of the room opposite the shower.

Exiting the bathroom Lucy made her way back to her bedroom and shut the door. Lucy smiled sadly to herself and moved to sit on the bed. She thought about everything that had happened to her, waking up in the forest, gazing at the stars, finding the village, encountering Ryota, being told she was dead and buying a house.

She tried to remember things from before she woke up in the forest. She couldn't recall anything, she was about to give up when she saw an image of a pink haired man, a man only wearing boxers, a scarlet haired girl, a young blue haired girl, a blue cat and a white cat. Then the image changed to the four people looking at her whilst crying.

Lucy clenched her teeth and clutched the fabric of her yukata where her heart was, she didn't remember who those people were but it hurt her to see them cry. A wave of exhaustion suddenly crashed over her and she decided to sleep and think about her new life as well as these people in the morning. Lucy moved under the covers and wondered if she would ever see those people again before falling asleep.


	3. Meeting the Spirit King

**Chapter 2 – Meeting the Spirit King**

Half a year had passed since Lucy first arrived in the Soul Society, and since then not much had changed. Shortly after arriving Ryota had explained to Lucy about Soul Reapers and Hollows as well as how while souls normally didn't need to eat, those with spiritual pressure did, otherwise they exhausted themselves.

Currently it was early afternoon and Lucy was out running errands for Royta as she worked at his bar full time. She had grown used to the way Soul Society worked and was fairly well known among district vendors as they usually got drunk at Ryota's bar on Weekends. "Afternoon Lucy" called Thomas from his vegetable stand as she approached him. "What're you interested in today?" he asked pleasantly. "Nothing much Thomas" Lucy replied cheerfully, "just carrots and some onions, Ryota's running low" "Coming right up" Thomas called as he collected the items from around his wagon. "That's 12 kan" said Thomas as he handed them to Lucy. The girl gave Thomas the required amount and collected up her purchases, placing them in the bag at her side. "Thanks Thomas, I'll see you later" Lucy said, waving as she walked away. "Bye Lucy" replied Thomas before turning to his next customer.

Lucy proceeded to make her way to the local supply shop Ryota had shown her when telling her where everything was, usually he went there to order alcohol from different districts. Ryota also explained that if she ever needed anything that she couldn't get in the district, then she could order it from there. It was a good 20 minute walk to get to the local supply shop but Lucy didn't mind; she enjoyed watching everyone going about their everyday life. While walking she happily hummed a tune that had gotten stuck in her head but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it or what the words to the song were.

Approximately 20 minutes later Lucy arrived at a large building with a sign outside proclaiming 'Akimura Suppliers for Anything you Need'. Lucy smiled and entered the building. A small bell rang as she opened the door and a seemingly middle aged man sitting at the counter looked up from the documents he was skimming through. "Ah, Lucy what a pleasant surprise, what can I get you today?" "Good afternoon Rentaro." replied Lucy as she approached to the counter. Rentaro sighed in exasperation, "I thought I told you to call me Ren, Luce", "Sorry Ren" replied Lucy with a sheepish smile.

"Ryota needs some more district 39 sake, he's nearly run out and it's Saturday tomorrow." "Ah, I see" replied Ren. "I've still got a few crates in the warehouse out back that you can have" Ren moved out from behind the counter and gestured for Lucy to follow him towards the door to the warehouse. "Thanks Ren, you're a life saver." Lucy replied as she followed him through the door.

Entering Lucy was met with the familiar sight of Ren's warehouse. It was huge with shelves stacked with supplies for everyday use. She followed Ren towards the alcohol section of the warehouse where 4 crates of sake were resting. "This be enough till I can send Tobi to get more supplies?" asked Ren. "This'll be more than enough" replied Lucy, "and if it's not then the guys will just have to make do" she smiled .

An image suddenly appeared in Lucy's mind, it was of a girl with dark brown hair and a blue bikini top chugging down an enormous barrel of alcohol. The image was gone as quickly as it appeared. Lucy sighed internally, it wasn't the first time something like this had happened, and she doubted that it would be the last.

"Excellent" cheered Ren, snapping Lucy out of her thoughts. "It's 600 kan per crate so the total amount for the four crates comes to 2,400 kan." "That's fine" replied Lucy as she opened her purse and gave the money to Ren. She then piled all the crates on top of each other and picked them up together. "How can you lift that?" asked Ren curiously. Everyone who knew Lucy knew that she was stronger then she looked, she was also capable of dodging anything that's about to hit her. "It's not that heavy, I can manage" Lucy stated confidently. "If you say so" replied Ren.

It was around 4:30pm when Lucy made it back to Ryota's bar with the shopping he needed. "I'm back" called Lucy as she walked through the door. "Ah Lucy, welcome back" Ryota greeted as she walked up to the counter carrying the vegetables and the sake. "You can put the sake behind the counter" Ryota said whilst taking the bag of vegetables from her. "Ok" Lucy replied doing as instructed. "Now that we have sake we may as well finish for the day" said Ryota. "I'll be heading home then" replied Lucy "See you tomorrow for rush hour" Lucy called as she headed for the door." "See you then" Ryota called after her.

Thirty minutes later Lucy arrived back at her house. Smiling to herself she unlocked the front door and headed straight for her bedroom. Once there she headed for her desk where her journal lay and started to flick through it. Each page contained a drawing of someone and some information about that person. She flipped through it until she found the page she was looking for. Unfortunately there were no names to go with the drawings . In front of her was a drawing of a girl who was around 18 years old with long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Lucy sighed as she read through everything she had on the girl.

The only information she had on the girl was that she used cards and loved to drink. Although Lucy couldn't remember ever seeing a card like the one she saw in her flashback. She sighed again and flipped back to the front of her journal.

The first page contained a portrait of a boy around 18 years old with spiky pink hair, onyx eyes and a big smile. Her notes on the next page said that he gets into a lot of fights, always wears a white scale-patterned scarf, and has a red tattoo on his upper right arm. He also owned a blue cat whose name Lucy can't remember either. Underneath the drawing of the pink haired boys face was a drawing of a blue cat.

Turning the page there was a drawing of a boy around 18 years old with black slightly spiked hair and black eyes. Her notes on this boy say that he was half naked most of the time and that he fights a lot with the pink haired guy on page 1. He also had a tattoo the same as the first guy's except it was dark blue and on the right side of his chest.

Lucy turned to the next page. The person depicted there was a girl who looked slightly older than the 2 boys, around 19 or 20, with long scarlet hair and dark brown eyes. The girl apparently likes strawberry shortcake and wore armour. Her tattoo is the same again and is located on her upper left arm in dark blue.

With a heavy sigh Lucy turned another page. There was a picture of a young girl around 14 years old. She had dark blue hair and dark brown eyes. The only notes she had on her were that she was a bit clumsy and owned a white cat that was drawn beneath the portrait of the young girl. She also had the same tattoo as the other three people in sky blue.

Lucy closed the journal and sighed. Whenever she saw those four faces her heart ached and she didn't understand why. She looked at her right hand where bore the same tattoo as the people in her visions only in pink and wondered what significance it had.

It was around 7pm when Lucy left her room and started making dinner. After eating she returned to her room, opened the window and climbed onto her roof. Staring at the darkening sky, Lucy could just about make out the subtle shine of stars. Smiling to herself she watched as the sky grew ever darker and the stars glow brighter. For some reason, the stars always made Lucy feel at ease regardless of what was troubling her. Staring up at the stars Lucy's eyes traced the constellations she recognised. Eventually she felt her eyelids droop and decided it was time for bed. Re-entering her room through the window, she closed it and drew the curtains. Quickly changing into her nightwear, Lucy slipped into bed and fell asleep staring at the light of the stars as they shone beyond her window.

Lucy woke with a jolt. Quickly standing she stared at the scenery around her. There were bright lights everywhere along with what looked like multiple stars and planets. Lucy realised that she had been lying in the centre of a star engraved onto the end of a path that from what Lucy could see, connected all the planets together. In front of her was an archway with a crown at the top and three shining points at the tips of the crown.

For some reason the place looked familiar to Lucy, but before she could think more on it there was a huge gust of wind behind her. Lucy turned, her back now facing the archway to see fifteen silhouettes and a giant covered in armour, with a white scarf around his neck and a dark black cape that was ragged at the end. The giant also had horns and an upside-down star on his forehead, but the most striking thing Lucy noticed about the giant was his moustache. It was enormous!

As Lucy stared up at the giant in awe and fear, the silhouettes completely forgotten, Lucy found that she could hear something but it was so muffled she couldn't make out what it was. "Who are you?" Lucy shouted at the giant, but all she could hear was the wind screaming in her ears. "I can't hear you!" shouted Lucy. The giant spoke again but Lucy still couldn't hear him. Suddenly the wind picked up even more and the stars swirled around her. Lucy closed her eyes against the swirling stars and braced herself against the impact of the wind on her body.

Lucy shot up in bed breathing heavily, noticing that she was back in her room. "Was it just a dream?" Lucy asked aloud. As she started to calm down and get her breathing back under control, she got out of bed and headed to the window. She opened the curtains to see the stars starting to fade as the sun began to rise from beyond the horizon. Lucy sighed, deciding that going back to bed now would be pointless, she changed into her navy blue yukata and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

* * *

 **Seireitei, Squad 12 laboratory.**

3rd seat Akon was monitoring the spiritual pressure that suddenly spiked in district 46. He was attempting to pinpoint its exact location when an alarm suddenly started blaring, startling Akon and waking up the rest of the squad as well as the rest of the Seireitei with how loud it was. "What's all this racket?" demanded Captain Kurotsuchi as he entered the room along with his lieutenant. Akon who had finally managed to turn the alarm off reported. "The unknown spiritual pressure detected within district 46 has just vanished sir." "Did you find the source?" asked Captain Kurotsuchi curiously. "Negative sir" replied Akon. "Then what were you doing you ignorant buffoon" demanded Captain Kurotsuchi angrily. "Never mind, I'll find out for myself" Captain Kurotsuchi shoved Akon off the chair and onto the floor.

"Interesting" said Captain Kurotsuchi as he scanned the monitor and tried to determine the source of the spiritual pressure. "The spiritual pressure suddenly appeared around 11:30pm and disappeared at dawn this morning, also the spiritual pressure practically encompassed the whole district making it difficult to pinpoint." "Nemu come, we shall go down there to get samples of this spiritual pressure and also to bring the source back for testing" Captain Kurotsuchi said with a maniacal grin.

Unfortunately for Kurotsuchi a hell butterfly entered the lab. "All Captains are to attend a Captains meeting. This meeting starts at 7:00am and it is mandatory that you attend" The Head Captain's voice rang thorough the room. The squad members sighed in relief as they would be spared from Captain Kurotsuchi for at least the next hour. Captain Kurotsuchi on the other hand looked absolutely furious. "What's the meaning of this, why does there have to be a Captains meeting now when I have a new test subject to collect and experiment on!" Demanded Captain Kurotsuchi as he made his way to the lab's exit for the meeting. "Nemu, wait here until I get back" he ordered as he departed Squad 12.

Captain Kurotsuchi was still grumbling as he entered the meeting and took his place next to Captain Hitsugaya. The Head Captain slammed his cane down on the floor demanding the other 12 Captains attention. "Now that everyone is here" the Head Captain began, "I'm sure you're all curious as to why I called this meeting." The Captains stayed silent, waiting for what Head Captain Yamamoto would say next. "Captain Kurotsuchi would you please explain the alarm that went off last night and again early this morning."

All the Captains turned as one to look at Captain Kurotsuchi. "Last night a large amount of spiritual pressure was detected coming from one of the outer districts." Captain Kurosutchi started irritably. "That was the reason the first alarm went off." "Was it a Hollow?" Captain Hitsugaya interrupted. Captain Kurotsuchi glared at the child Captain for interrupting. "No, it was not a Hollow you insolent child, don't interrupt me." "Enough" said the Head Captain. "Please continue Captain Kurotsuchi." "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Captain Kurotsuchi glared at Captain Histugaya, "The reason the alarm went off again this morning is because that same spiritual pressure suddenly disappeared." "Did you find the source of the spiritual pressure?" asked Head Captain Yamamoto. "Unfortunately the spiritual pressure covered the whole of district 46, so my idiot subordinates were unable to find the source." replied Captain Kurotsuchi bitterly. "Then it is decided, Captain Hitsugaya your lieutenant will head to district 46 to determine the source of the spiritual pressure and deem whether whoever is responsible is a threat or not." The Head Captain looked around the room at the other Captains, "Dismissed".

* * *

 **Sorry I took so long to update, i've been trying to keep on top of my college assignments.**

 **I'll try and update when I have the time but I don't know when that will be.**


	4. Lucy Meets Rangiku

**Chapter 3 - Lucy Meets Rangiku**

Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya shunpoed back to the Tenth Division as soon as the Head Captain dismissed them. He arrived shortly at the door leading to his office and steeled himself for the inevitable sight that would greet him. Quietly he opened the door, entered his office and was met with the same sight that greeted him at the end of most Captains meetings. His Lieutenant; Rangiku Matsumoto was sprawled out across the couch in the middle of the room, fast asleep. Around her were multiple different sake bottles that were almost definitely empty, although Toshiro had no doubt that they contained alcohol at some point. He shifted his attention from his Lieutenant to her desk that still contained two incredibly tall towers of paperwork that had yet to be started.

"MATSUMOTO" Toshiro shrieked after surveying the room. Rangiku groaned as she slowly opened her eyes and sat up. "Oh, welcome back Captain, that Captain's meeting sure was quick, I haven't even had time to start on my paperwork yet." Rangiku said cheerfully as Toshiro became more and more annoyed causing the temperature to drop drastically at her excuses. "Never mind the paperwork for now," said Toshiro irritably. "You have a mission from Head Captain Yamamoto." Toshiro swiftly stalked over to his desk and sat down. "What kind of mission?" Rangiku asked curiously as she stood up from the couch to stand in front of Toshiro's desk.

"Last night Squad 12 detected powerful spiritual pressure originating from district 46, East Rukon, you are to head out, find the source of the spiritual pressure and decide whether whoever is responsible for it is a threat or not." "Yes sir." replied Rangiku seriously. "Good, you are to depart immediately and will stay there until the source of the spiritual pressure is found" "Yes sir" replied Rangiku. She turned to leave but stopped when Toshiro said; "And your paperwork will still be here when you get back." "Yes sir." she grumbled disheartened by the thought of doing paperwork at all.

Rangiku exited Squad 10 and shunpoed down to the East Gate that would take her to district 26. Upon arriving she was greeted Kaiwan, the guardian of the East Gate whom she greeted back and stepped through the gate into district 26. She then shunpoed until she reached the edge of district 46.

Ragniku walked through the district trying to sense the powerful spiritual pressure that Squad 12 had reported. The district's civilians stared as she walked past, wondering what a Soul Reaper was doing in the district but otherwise paid her no mind.

Several hours later Rangiku still hadn't managed to sense the spiritual pressure let alone locate its source. "Dammit" muttered Rangiku; "at this rate I'm going to be here all night." She sighed in frustration. Rounding the same corner for the 3rd time that day, Rangiku glanced at the now open bar that was located a little ways down the street. _I'm sure Captain won't mind if I have a small drink, I mean it's not like the spiritual pressure I've been looking for is actually around at the moment,_ thought Rangiku as she smiled and headed into the bar.

Upon opening the door Rangiku was greeted with silence as everyone in the bar turned to stare at her, Rangiku wasn't phased as she walked in and up to the bar. When she sat down the people in the bar started whispering to each other. "What's a soul reaper doing here?"; "What do you think she wants?", "Wonder if she'd go on a date with me." said one man who was immediately hit on the head by his drinking buddy telling him that he already had a wife who would kill him if she ever found out he uttered those words. Rangiku smiled as she skimmed the menu on the wall behind the bar. "Hi there, are you ready to order?" came a cheerful voice from in front of Rangiku. Looking up Rangiku was greeted with friendly looking brown eyes and long golden blond hair. Smiling up at the girl Rangiku noted a name badge that said 'Lucy'. "Yes," said Rangiku, "I'll have a bottle of sake", "Sure, coming right up." Lucy noted Rangiku's order in her notebook. She then made her way to the back of the bar to get a bottle of sake.

"Amazing," one of the guys from behind Rangiku commented as Lucy moved behind the bar to get Rangiku's bottle of sake, "she didn't even hesitate when talking to that Soul Reaper." "That's our Lucy never afraid of anyone or anything." another remarked. "I wonder if she would go on a date with me?" said the same guy who had just been hit on the head by his drinking buddy for asking the same thing about Rangiku. The whole bar suddenly went silent, Lucy reappeared above the bar holding the sake bottle, watching the developing situation with narrowed eyes. Rangiku turned to see what was going on, only to see everyone in the bar glaring at the guy who'd asked the question. His drinking buddy was slowly edging away from him as about half the people in the bar stood up and began making their way towards the guy who so foolishly asked that question. "How dare you, you think you are worthy of asking Miss Lucy of all people out on a date!" exclaimed the man in front of the angry mob of people just waiting for the opportunity to pummel the idiot into the ground. "Listen here," said the man as he grabbed the poor guy by the front of his yukata, "the only one who's allowed to ask Lucy on a date is me, got that looser." The angry mob then turned towards the man in outrage and suddenly a full on brawl broke out.

Lucy gave a long-suffering sigh from behind the counter as she grabbed a glass, pored some sake into it, and set the glass as well as the opened bottle of sake on the counter in front of Rangiku who was staring wide-eyed at the brawl that had suddenly developed behind her. "Sorry about that" Lucy gestured at the brawl, as Rangiku turned around to face her. "I'd better go break it up before the bar is completely destroyed." Rangiku watched intrigued as Lucy exited from behind the bar and calmly walked into the brawl, watching as Lucy expertly dodged chairs, tables, cups and people until she reached the two who had started the brawl. Grabbing the guy whose thoughtless comment started everything and the man who'd only added fuel to the fire, she bashed their heads together knocking them out, the hard sound grounding the rest of the brawl to a halt as everyone turned to see a pissed off Lucy who glared at every single person involved in the brawl.

"I expect this mess to be cleared up and the bar looking as it did before the brawl, is that understood?" stated Lucy giving everyone in front of her a death glare. They all straightened, saluted and chanted "Yes Ma'am!" in unison before getting to work cleaning the mess. Lucy sighed as she dropped the two men and made her way back to the bar.

"That was amazing" Rangiku stared as Lucy made her way back behind the bar. "Thank you" Lucy blushed slightly at the praise. Rangiku smiled and then downed the whole glass of sake, "Not bad" Rangiku commented as she pored more sake into the glass.

3 hours later most of the people that were in the bar had gone home. It was almost 1am and the bar was about to close. Rangiku was still leaning on the counter surrounded by sake bottles. Lucy glanced at the clock on the wall and walked over to Rangiku. "Excuse me, Miss but the bar's closing in 2 minutes so I need you to finish up." Lucy addressed a drunk Rangiku, who got up, paid for all the sake she'd drunk, smiled and said "Bye Lucy." as she waved and left the bar. Lucy waved back and closed up. She then placed all the empty sake bottles in a crate to be taken back to Ren's for refills. She then cleaned the glass Rangiku had used and put it back behind the bar, she then wiped down the counter. "Good job Lucy." said Ryota as he exited the kitchen after finishing to clean all the dishes. "You're free to head home for the night." "Thanks Ryota, I'll see you tomorrow" called Lucy as she removed her waitress apron and hung it behind the counter. She exited the bar via the front door and made her way home.

Arriving home Lucy made her way to the kitchen to get a drink before heading to bed. Heading to her room Lucy gazed at the night sky outside her window smiling at the multiple constellations she could see. She closed her curtains and changed into her nightwear, catching sight of her journal laying on her desk she sighed before heading to bed. She got into bed and closed her eyes wondering vaguely if she would have the same dream as last night as she fell into a deep slumber.

Lucy woke with a jolt. Quickly gathering her surroundings she realised that she was staring up at the same archway from her dream the previous night. The wind suddenly picked up and Lucy slowly turned, just like the previous night she saw 15 silhouettes and the giant with the armour. "What do you want from me?" shouted Lucy over the sound of the wind screaming in her ears. The giant spoke but just like the previous night Lucy couldn't hear him. "I still can't hear you!" She shouted over the wind, but just like before the wind picked up even more and the stars swirled around her, once again Lucy closed her eyes against the swirling stars and braced herself against the wind.

Just like the previous night Lucy shot up in bed breathing heavily. Realising she was back in her room, Lucy smiled half-heartedly. "Definitely not a normal dream." she muttered as she pulled back the curtains slightly and saw the stars starting to fade and the sun beginning to rise. Sighing she got up, changed into her yukata and headed for the kitchen to make breakfast, when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

* * *

 **District 46, East Rukon 1:15am**

It had been roughly fifteen minutes since Rangiku had been asked to leave the bar, during which she'd decided to continue her search for this supposedly powerful spiritual pressure. "Damn it!" shouted Rangiku as she stopped walking. "Where the heck is it?" she sighed in frustration. "I've been here all day and sensed nothing, this whole trip has been a waste of time." She quickly shunpoed onto the roof of a nearby building. "Ah well, may as well get some sleep, not like it's gonna show up now." said Rangiku as she lay down on top of the roof.

Just as she was falling asleep, she suddenly bolted up. Rangiku looked around, the spiritual pressure that had somehow evaded her all day was now right on top of her. Closing her eyes she tried to find the source, but it was impossible, the spiritual pressure was somehow blanketing the entire district evenly, there wasn't any place she could sense that it was more prominent then anywhere else.

Groaning in frustration she began shunpoing all across the district trying to get a feel of one area that the spiritual pressure was stronger. Four and a half hours later the spiritual pressure had begun to recede making it easy for Rangiku to follow, concentrating, she sensed the spiritual pressure right up until it disappeared. Quickly shunpoing to where it vanished, Rangiku found herself in front of a small house on the edge of a forest. Cautiously walking up to the front door she knocked and waited.

* * *

 **Inside Lucy's House, 6:10am**

Lucy stared at the door for a moment not believing that someone was knocking on her door at such an ungodly hour of the morning. The knocking came again, slightly more insistent than the first time. Quickly debating the pros and cons of opening the door, Lucy sighed "Coming!" she called as she cautiously made her way over to the door. Slowly opening it a crack she was met with the surprised face of the same Soul Reaper that she served the previous night at Ryota's bar, and by the look on her face it was clear that she wasn't expecting to see her either.

"Lucy?" came the surprised voice of Rangiku Matsumoto who definitely didn't expect her to open the door, concentrating now Rangiku could feel the lingering presence of the spiritual pressure she'd been searching the whole night for on Lucy. "Can I come in, I need to talk to you about something important." "Sure." Lucy answered hesitantly as she held the door open for Rangiku. Rangiku stepped in and Lucy lead her to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything, like tea or coffee?" "No thanks." replied Rangiku as she took a seat at the table, Lucy taking the one opposite her.

"I suppose I should start by introducing myself, I'm Rangiku Matsumoto and I'm a Soul Reaper." Rangiku said as she held out her hand, "Lucy Heartfilia" replied Lucy as she hesitantly shook the womans hand. "Relax, no need to be so nervous I don't bite, unlike my frosty Captain." Lucy managed a smile at that. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here," Lucy nodded anxiously waiting for the answer, "I'm here because last night your spiritual pressure covered the whole of district 46." "That's not possible, I was asleep." replied Lucy sounding confused. "Last night did you dream about someone or something?" asked Rangiku. "The giant in the armour." Lucy whispered. Rangiku smiled. "If you don't learn to control your power you could easily end up hurting someone." Rangiku stated seriously. "Where can I learn to control it?" asked Lucy determinedly, not wanting to accidentally cause someone harm because of her own inability to control her power. "The only place you can learn to control your spiritual pressure is the Soul Reaper Academy." said Rangiku, "Which means," said Lucy staring at Rangiku seriously "that if I want to learn how to control my spiritual pressure I need to become a Soul Reaper." "Yes." replied Rangiku.

"What do Soul Reapers actually do?" asked Lucy curiously. "We are in charge of governing the flow of spirits between the World of the Living and the Soul Society, we also get sent to the World of the Living to perform soul burials in order to send people's spirits to Soul Society and we cleanse hollows, which are souls that stay in the World of the Living for too long, their spirit then gets sent to Soul Society, those are the main duties of a Soul Reaper." replied Rangiku.

Lucy leaned back on her chair, closed her eyes and thought for a minute, considering what Rangiku had just said. Sure she liked her life and this was all very sudden, but she didn't want anyone to get hurt because she didn't learn to control her powers, and she had a feeling that they were going to get stronger whether she wanted them to or not. Opening her eyes she stared at Rangiku, "Alright." "Huh" was Rangiku's intelligent response, "I'll become a Soul Reaper." said Lucy, smiling at Rangiku's dumbfounded expression.

"Ok, we can leave for the academy whenever you're ready." "Sure, just let me grab my things." said Lucy as she left the kitchen and entered her room, grabbing a small bag from inside her closet she packed her nightwear inside as well as her spare yukata, and finally her journal which she stared at for a few seconds before placing it in her bag. She then made her way back to the kitchen where Rangiku was waiting. "I'm ready." she said as Rangiku turned towards her. "I just need to say goodbye to Ryota, then we can go." Smiling Rangiku got up and made her way to the front door, Lucy closely following behind. Exiting the house Lucy turned to lock the door, walking away the two reached the end of the path before Lucy turned back and smiled up at the house before making her way to Ryota's bar to explain the situation to him, and then leaving the district to start her new life as a Soul Reaper.

* * *

 **Sorry for the wait, my assignments caught up with me and I wasn't sure how I was going to write this chapter for a while.**

 **I'm sure you've noticed on the previous chapter I changed the number of silhouettes from 13 to 15 this is because, I'm sure you've already guessed by now that they represent the 12 zodiacs and Orpheus, well I realised that Gemini and Pisces have two spirits for their keys making the total of individual spirits there actually 15.**

 **As stated before I'll update when I have the time but I don't know when that will be, so my update dates will be random**


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